02 December 2022

Partners sign FCAS/SCAF demonstrator deal

by Gareth Jennings

Phase 1B of the New Generation Fighter that sits at the core of FCAS/SCAF project will now go ahead, with Dassault as the lead partner. (Dassault)

The industrial partners heading up the trinational Future Combat Air System (FCAS)/Système de Combat Aérien du Futur (SCAF) have agreed to the demonstrator phase of the project.

Dassault announced the milestone on 1 December, saying that an agreement on Phase 1B of the New Generation Fighter (NGF) element of the FCAS/SCAF project had been reached with Airbus and Indra.

“Yes, today it is done. We have an agreement with Airbus,” Dassault CEO Éric Trappier said in an interview given to Le Figaro . “We'll now be able to move into the next phase of studies, known as [Phase] 1B, to prepare for the development of a demonstrator, which should fly around 2029… We have been confirmed in our role as prime contractor and architect of the aircraft, and we have obtained protection for our industrial know-how and technologies.”

With Phase 1B concerned with developing a flying demonstrator of the NGF element of FCAS/SCAF, Phase 2 covers the actual manufacture of the demonstrator in time for its now 2029 (previously it had been set for 2027) first flight.

The industrial partners heading up the trinational Future Combat Air System (FCAS)/Système de Combat...

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